


the road not traveled

by gwenhyneargwenhyfar, Pachimew



Series: dark kaladin au mess [1]
Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Amnesiac!Tien, M/M, Oathbringer spoilers, Tien (Stormlight Archive) Lives, Words of Radiance spoilers, bryn had Ideas so they stole another fic's tien and author, in which Kaladin makes The Other Choice, you know which one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-02-27 00:43:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 6,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18728212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenhyneargwenhyfar/pseuds/gwenhyneargwenhyfar, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pachimew/pseuds/Pachimew
Summary: This work is currently abandoned, sorry.





	1. light, shardblade, action

**Author's Note:**

> This begins close to the end of Chapter 80 of Words of Radiance.
> 
> betaed by @pachimew, @werealldreaming, and Paragrin the AO3less

“You know the secret,” Elhokar said, pacing. “I’ve seen how your men regard you; I’ve heard how people speak of you. You’re a hero, bridgeman.” He stopped, then walked up to Kaladin, taking him by the arms. “Can you teach me?”

Kaladin regarded him, baffled.

“I want to be a king like my father was,” Elhokar said. “I want to lead men, and I want their respect.”

“I don’t know if that’s possible, Your Majesty.”

Elhokar narrowed his eyes at Kaladin. “So you still speak your mind, even after all the trouble it brought you. Do you think me a bad king, bridgeman?”

“Yes.”

The king breathed in sharply.

_I could do it right now_ , Kaladin realized. _Kill the king. Put Dalinar on the throne. No hiding, no secrets, no cowardly assassination. A fight, him and me._

* * *

 

Out on the Shattered Plains, in the midst of visions of the Everstorm and the Final Desolation, a future flashed in front of Renarin Kholin’s eyes.

_Kaladin, bleeding in a darkened hallway, in front of two assassins in Shardplate._

_Kaladin, swearing the Third Ideal, and the assassins running._

_Kaladin, a streak of Light, crashing down onto the Shattered Plains._

_A fight in the sky in front of the stormwall._

_A frantic flight racing the Everstorm to Hearthstone._

_A trip to Kholinar to activate its Oathgate and retake Alethkar._

_An Oathgate activation gone terribly, terribly wrong._

_Thaylen City and Kaladin emerging from Honor’s Perpendicularity._

And as quickly as it had passed by Renarin’s now-healed eyes, the future was gone, snapped off as the Spiritual Realm shifted.

* * *

 

Kaladin extended his arm. The king stumbled backwards. Elhokar was inefficient, apathetic, unworthy of the mantle of king. As much as Kaladin would have liked him to step down, Alethkar needed Dalinar, and it needed him now.

“What are you doing, bridgeman?” the king demanded.

“ **I will do what is just, so long as it serves the greater good**.”

A rush of air, a burst of Stormlight, and Syl’s abruptly cut-off anguished scream as a Shardblade, forming from a cloud of silvery mist, dropped into Kaladin’s outstretched hand.


	2. rest in frozen chonk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some things go as they used to.  
> some Don't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betaed by @pachimew, @werealldreaming, and Paragrin the AO3less

“Kaladin! Is everything-” Moash stopped halfway through the doorway, taking in the scene.

Kaladin pulled the Shardblade out of Elhokar’s chest as the king’s eyes burned in their sockets.

“It’s done, Moash,” Kaladin said, aglow with Stormlight. “The king is dead. Somebody needs to take the fall, and I have work yet to do.”

He spun on his heel and leveled his Blade at Moash’s neck.

“Run,” Kaladin whispered, “because you would have done this. His actions created this need, but you are the one who created the plan. You are the assassin. I tried to stop this. I would rather this not have gone this way, but it did. And you will take the blame. Run. I will not tell you a third time.”

Moash hesitated for half a second, as if to say something, then bolted out of the chamber door and around the corner.

 

* * *

 

A nearby tent shook as the storm picked up around Dalinar. He  frowned. It didn’t seem to be moving along with the wind. And was that shouting he heard?

Adolin was thrown through the wall of the tent and skidded along the ground, his Shardplate leaking Stormlight like a waterskin someone had attacked with a cheese grater.

Szeth, the Assassin in White, Stormlight streaming off his body, strode in over Adolin’s sprawled form.

Adolin struggled, trying to get up, but his shattered greaves kept him from rising.

_One._

“Why?” Dalinar asked, “why kill my brother?”

_Two._

“I am Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar,” Szeth spat. “I do as my masters demand, and I do not ask for explanation.”

_Four._

“You don’t have to do this,” Dalinar said. “If it’s about pay-”

“What I am owed,” the assassin screamed, rainwater spraying from his face and Light floating from his mouth, “will come to me eventually, and I will drown in it, stonewalker!”

_Nine._

Szeth put his hand to the side, catching his Shardblade as it materialized. With a curt, short motion, he swung it at Dalinar, who caught it on his own Blade as it appeared.

“Thank you,” the assassin grinned, “for extending my agony by not dying easily.” He came at Dalinar again, afire with Stormlight, inhumanly quick.

They fought in a dance of steel and light, the assassin and the prince, and for a time, Dalinar held his own against the bearer of the Honorblade of the Windrunners.

And then, all too quickly, Dalinar missed dodging Szeth’s fist by the barest of margins. He felt his ribs crack and fell to his knees as Szeth strode forward, still glowing with Stormlight.

Szeth placed his hand against Dalinar’s chest.

Adolin screamed as his father shot away at a slight angle into the sky soundlessly.

And Szeth, slayer of kings, princes, and soldiers alike, walked away.

 

* * *

 

Renarin, on his knees in the Oathgate control room, felt another  fleeting vision slip in front of his eyes through the pounding of the Everstorm against his mind.

_Dalinar, speaking the Words._

_Dalinar, standing in front of the Stormfather._

_Dalinar, bringing a coalition of nations together against the Enemy._

_Dalinar, pouring Stormlight into a temple and restoring it._

_Dalinar, defying a god, claiming his pain as his own._

_Dalinar, uniting the Realms in Honor’s Perpendicularity._

And the vision fled from him as his father suffocated, alone in the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch me on tumblr @flannel-and-shitposts!  
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe


	3. picking up the pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the gay begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betaed by @pachimew, @werealldreaming, and Paragrin the AO3less

Kaladin hadn’t slept in three weeks.

Fortunately, Stormlight helped with that, keeping the fatigue at bay, keeping him from seeing Elhokar’s burned-out eye sockets in his dreams, keeping him from going to sleep.

It helped that he had something to do. Urithiru was vast enough that it would probably take him another three weeks of exploring before he had to find something else to fill his every hour with. 

He rounded a corner and slammed into Adolin.

“Damnation, Kaladin! Watch where you’re going!” 

Kaladin stepped back reflexively. Adolin looked uncharacteristically like a mess - rumpled suit, missing cuffs, disheveled hair but not in the attractively messy way he normally styled it. Attractive if Kaladin were into guys, which he most definitely was not. “You’ve been letting yourself go, Your Majesty.”

Adolin grimaced. “I’m not king yet. I still have to suffer another week of coronation preparations before I’m stuck with that storming title.”

Kaladin grunted.

“How’s Renarin holding up? I’ve been either preparing for the coronation or down here since the Shattered Plains.”

“I saw him once, the night we all got here. Since then, I’ve been scouting these tunnels.”

“Can you do me a favor and check in on him? He’s highprince now and I’m betting that’s going to be rough, especially with his...situation and the Radiant thing.”

Kaladin sighed. “Fine, I’ll make sure he hasn’t summoned his Shardblade and murdered all of the Alethi ruling class. Actually, if he decides to do that, I might help him instead.” 

 

* * *

 

Something was very wrong.

Everything Renarin had seen had come to pass until the night when his father was murdered by the Assassin in White and Bridge Four’s Shardbearer had turned on Elhokar.

He had seen Kaladin save his cousin from assassins and his father from the Assassin in White, but neither of those things had come to pass. Instead, Elhokar had been killed with a Shardblade and Dalinar had been Lashed into the sky. Since then, his visions seemed to be alternating between the world he was experiencing outside the visions and the world where the king and the Blackthorn survived the first coming of the Everstorm.

Someone knocked suddenly at the door of the chambers he had been allotted as Radiant and highprince of Kholinar.

He yelped, closed his notebook and shoved it into its hidden space in the air vent, and dashed to the door, opening it to find Captain Kaladin standing there sheepishly.

“Kaladin? What are you doing here?” he inquired.

“Adolin sent me to check on you, make sure you were doing fine in your role as highprince and such,” mumbled Kaladin, “so if you’re alright, I’ll just be going now?”

“Y-Yeah! I’ve been managing to deal with all this just fine. How have you been doing?”

“I’ve been fine, getting enough sleep and everything,” Kaladin said.

Renarin looked pointedly at the bags under his eyes.

“Ok, fine. I-”

And Renarin falls to the floor as a vision sneaks up behind him with a big stick and begins beating him over the head.

_ Adolin, stabbing Sadeas through the eye in a dark corridor. _

_ Adolin, worrying when there is another murder, knowing he didn’t do that one, but not knowing how to say so without incriminating himself. _

_ Adolin, going with the team to retake Kholinar. _

_ Adolin, meeting the spren of his Shardblade in Shadesmar. _

_ Adolin, bleeding from the gut in a small room at the bottom of a sea of beads as Kaladin tries desperately to save him. _

And he’s back, in this moment, in this timeline, in this room, with Kaladin’s hand on his arm keeping him from falling, Kaladin desperately calling Renarin’s name.

“I’m good, I’m alright,” he gasps, acutely aware of Kaladin’s hand still on his arm.

Kaladin, noticing, withdraws his hand quickly with a “Sorr-sorry. I’m just gonna go...” and leaves without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch me on tumblr @flannel-and-shitposts!
> 
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe


	4. interlude: witty replies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is parallel to the Words of Radiance epilogue.
> 
> betaed by @pachimew, @werealldreaming, and Ati

The air in front of Wit blurred, as if heated in a ring near the ground. A streak of light spun about the ring, forming a cylinder five or six feet high, fading almost immediately.

Jasnah Kholin appeared in the center, standing tall.

She groaned a long groan, then looked to the side, where Wit stood solemnly.

Jasnah stabbed her hand out, mist snapping into the form of of a long, thin Shardblade leveled at Wit’s neck.

He cocked an eyebrow.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“You’ve been making quite a disturbance on the other side,” he said. “It’s been a long time since the spren had to deal with someone alive, particularly someone as demanding as yourself.”

She hissed out a breath, then pushed the Shardblade closer. “Tell me what you know, Wit.”

“Something is very wrong with...reality, time, the Spiritual Realm, whatever you wish to deem it. Things are happening differently than they should, than they will, than they have.”

She frowned at him.

“I know you were expecting a pithy reply, but this is one of those very rare, often literally once-in-a-lifetime moments when I am serious.”

She studied him. Then her sword burst to mist, vaporizing as she lowered her arm. “I don’t have time for you. A storm is coming, a terrible storm. It will bring the Voidbringers to-”

“Already here. Urithiru is already found, the Knights Radiant refounded. For a given value of refounded.” He took a step closer. “Listen. Elhokar shouldn’t have been murdered. Dalinar should have survived the Shattered Plains--”

“What did you just say?”

“Your uncle and brother are dead. Something happened, something that had ripples reaching through the Spiritual Realm, something that shouldn’t have.”

“And why should I trust you?”

Wit smiled grimly. “You shouldn’t, but you’re going to anyways.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch me on tumblr @flannel-and-shitposts!  
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe
> 
> short chapter today, but probably not the only chapter today.


	5. brothers in arms but not armies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betaed by @werealldreaming and Ati
> 
> @pachimew writes the best tien so i conscripted them :3

It had been a long six years for Tien.

The first thing he remembered had been waking up in a heap of bodies on the remnants of a battlefield, alone except for his Cryptic, Fractal. She had told him of a name, a brother, a life before then.

He wasn’t quite sure how much he believed her.

He had worked his way into Amaram’s trust as Fractal had instructed, being reliable, being his perfect ward, doing as he was asked without comment or question.

And now Fractal was telling him his brother was a Knight Radiant.

“You need to make yourself known as a Radiant,” she buzzed. “Your brother is among them, and the group can make use of a second Lightweaver.”

“I don’t even know that he  _ is  _ my brother!” Tien protested. Fractal hummed disapprovingly--it was a lie, he was pretty sure she was right, but he still didn’t know how to deal with it. “I can’t--they can get along just fine with the Davar girl, can’t they? I don’t see why I need to…” He trailed off, wrapping his arms around himself.

He didn’t want to reveal himself. Six years of being Amaram’s quiet shadow had taken their toll, and everything in him  _ screamed  _ for him to stay silent, stay invisible, just blend in and do nothing.

“Then don’t go as yourself,” Fractal said, matter-of-fact. “You have another face. Use it.”

Tien let out a small, pained sound. “How am I supposed to explain that, Fractal?”

“I will help,” she said.

“Of course you will,” Tien muttered, “you always help.” 

She hummed, a soothing buzz on his shoulder. Tien sighed. “Fine. Fine. But not as myself.”

 

* * *

 

 

Kaladin walked into the room the Radiants had appropriated as their planning room. An unfamiliar lighteyed man stood at the table. Kaladin scowled. “Who’s this?”

The man turned around slowly. “My name is Telinar, and, well-” He began glowing with Stormlight.

Kaladin stared. His eyes darted to the man’s jacket, Sadeas green. There went the thought of all Radiants being Kholins.

“Fractal said I should join you,” Telinar said, his hand coming to rest over what Kaladin had mistaken to be a bit of embroidery. Now that he looked closer, it turned out to be a spren like Shallan’s.

Kaladin smiled tightly. “Welcome to the Knights Radiant.”

 

* * *

 

“So that’s my brother,” said Tien. “He’s...very tall. What order did you say he was again?”

Fractal buzzed. “He has access to Gravitation, so he is either a Windrunner or a Skybreaker. I did not see his spren, so I cannot tell you for sure.”

“Are his--are our parents still alive?”

Fractal hesitated. “Last time we saw them, yes, they were. But...”

“That was six or more years ago,” Tien finished.

 

* * *

 

“Syl?” Kaladin asked. “Syl, are you still mad at me?”

_ Who is Syl?  _ said a voice in his head.  _ I? I am Nim. _

Kaladin turned around slowly. Behind him, a spren flickered--but not Syl. A field of inky blackness peppered with stars floated in midair.

“No,” Kaladin whispered in horror. “NO!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hell yeah 100 hits!  
> catch me on tumblr @flannel-and-shitposts!
> 
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe


	6. tears, sunsets, and espionage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one is less angsty than usual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betaed by @werealldreaming and Ati

“That one is living a  _ deep  _ lie,” Pattern said.

Shallan frowned, glancing up from her sketchbook. “What do you mean?”

“Mmm...the one who calls himself Telinar.”

“The man who showed up at the last meeting?” Shallan turned back to her sketching. That was the scene she’d been depicting--probably it was what had made Pattern think of it. “Isn’t that normal for...our order? He’s a Lightweaver too, after all.”

Pattern hummed discontentedly. “Yes, but...there was something more. He  _ was _ a lie.”

Her pencil paused above the page. “Like Veil or Radiant?” 

“Mmmm.. _ exactly _ like Veil or Radiant.”

She bit her lip. ‘ _ Exactly  _ like’ meant that things could get...confusing. Sometimes even she wasn’t sure which one of her she was.

Shallan took a deep breath and laid aside her sketchbook. “Well, Pattern,” she said. “I know what we’re doing tonight.”

 

* * *

 

Veil tugged on her coat and slipped on her safehand glove, then slipped out of the room back towards the quarters Telinar had been allotted. 

She Lightwove the door to look closed, then opened it quietly. She took off the hat and poked the front of her face through the illusion just slightly.

There was nothing there.

No furnishings, no bags, no boxes, no clothes. Just an empty room, the same as any other in Urithiru. Completely unchanged.

“Pattern,” she whispered. “It’s empty.”

“So what do we do?” he buzzed.

“We wait,” Veil said, “and follow him when he leaves the meeting tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

Kaladin shook softly, sobbing silently on the balcony.

“I killed her,” he whispered. “I killed her.”

Nim hovered in the air next to him.  _ Killed who? _

Kaladin didn’t respond. After a lengthy silence, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Renarin asked.

Kaladin turned to him and buried his face in Renarin’s shoulder.

“Or, o-okay, that works too, I g-guess,” stuttered Renarin, flustered. He patted Kaladin awkwardly on the back.

They stayed there, Renarin looking off into the distance with Kaladin’s head on his shoulder until the sun had long since set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch us on tumblr @flannel-and-shitposts and @pachimew!
> 
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe


	7. it hurts, doesn't it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the gay is amping up just a bit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is a bit longer than usual, folks, so buckle in
> 
> [finally got those good good tien-shallan interactions that i still haven't managed to get back in FBRR so that's a hell yeah --Ambs]

“So this meeting of the Radiants is over, unless we need to deal with any other world-ending events and their aftermaths. I’m going to go back downstairs and keep scouting the lower levels. Shallan’s going to go do...Shallan things, Renarin’s going to go help in the hospitals, and Telinar’s going to start recruiting for this Signal Corps idea of his. Got that all right?” said Kaladin.

“Wow,” Shallan remarked. “That’s the longest I’ve ever heard you speak at a time.”

He glared at her and stomped out of the room.

“...Right. I’ll just...go then,” Telinar said, backing slowly away from the table before turning down the hall. Shallan narrowed her eyes and stood, tucking her sketchbook--and its references for Lightweaving--into her bag.

 

* * *

 

Veil followed Telinar through the warcamps at a fair distance. That green coat was distinctive enough that she could follow him with ease. He turned a corner into an alley abruptly and, by the time she got there, had disappeared.

“Pattern?” She whispered. “Where did he go?”

“Mmm...One of these walls is a lie….” Pattern buzzed.

She reached out to touch--

A hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Telinar asked, raising an eyebrow. “Fractal saw you a while ago. You’re a Lightweaver too, aren’t you?”

“And you’re not who you say you are,” Shallan said, dropping her illusion.

He sucked in a sharp hiss of breath. “...It’s better this way. Safer.”

“Frankly, I’m not sure I can trust you.”

“That’s fair,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.  _ “I’m _ not sure I can trust me. Just tolerate my eccentricities, that’s all I ask.” 

Shallan straightened her shoulders, pulling her arm out of his grip. “I can at least trust you’re not going to reveal my false faces, because I can certainly do the same to you.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Naturally. You have more than one?”

She grinned. “Naturally. You don’t?”

“Not that I use regularly.”

“Until we meet again, then.” She Wove Veil’s face over hers and strode out of the false wall.

 

* * *

 

Adolin knocked on Renarin’s door. Irritatingly, his hand stuck to the wood on the second knock. “Stupid windspren,” he muttered, pulling his hand away seconds before Renarin opened the door.

“Yes, Adolin?” Renarin asked. “What do you need?”

Adolin grinned at him. “So, how’s it going with the bridgeboy?”

Renarin started to close the door in his face. Adolin shoved his foot in the gap.

“I heard he’s not on patrol tonight. I took the liberty of telling him to meet you at those gardens we found tonight and to bring booze.”

“You  _ what?”  _ Renarin yelped, yanking the door back open.

“See you later!” Adolin grinned, already running down the hall. His foot stuck to the floor about five meters away and he caught himself barely in time to not knock a tooth out. “Storming windspren, I swear!” he shouted, shaking his fist angrily.

 

* * *

 

Honestly, Kaladin didn’t know why he’d bothered turning up at all. It was as likely as anything else that Adolin was just trying to have a laugh at his expense.

But, well. Here he was, standing in a garden with a bottle of wine, waiting like a fool for Renarin to show up.

He heard a shout from behind him. “Hey, Kaladin!” He turned to see Renarin jogging towards him.

“I’m s-sorry,” Renarin said. “I didn’t know about this until just about half an hour ago, because Adolin, that piece of crem, didn’t ask me first.”

“Oh,” Kaladin said slowly. “If you don’t want to--”

Renarin cut him off. “I never said that,” he said, smiling up at Kaladin. “I just didn’t expect a...evening with you tonight. So, do we have a plan, or are we just going to sit in this garden and drink wine?”

Kaladin smiled back. “I think that  _ was _ the plan.”

 

* * *

 

“Shtormsh, are we finished with the bottle thish fasht?” slurred Renarin.

“Renarin, you’re very drunk,” said Kaladin gently.

“Nah, I’m fiiiine,” Renarin said. He poked Kaladin on the nose. “Have I ever told you that I love your eyesh?”

“Renarin, you’re very drunk,” Kaladin repeated. “You need to-”

And then Renarin was kissing him, hard, sloppily, and somehow still gently, the taste of the wine still on his lips.

“Huh,” Renarin breathed, and then fell backwards, passed out.

“Storms,” said Kaladin.

 

* * *

 

Kaladin tucked the blanket on the cot up around Renarin’s chin and quietly closed the door as he left the room.

Adolin was standing silently behind him, grinning like a madman.

Kaladin imagined punching him in the face. He took great care with the details of it. It was the only thing holding him back from following through with it.

“So how did your date go?” Adolin asked, still grinning infuriatingly.

“It wasn’t a date!” Kaladin protested. “We just went and drank in a garden together and he got very drunk because he wasn’t using Stormlight and he k-he fell asleep and I had to carry him all the way back here!”

Adolin looked at him pointedly.

“Okay, fine, so maybe it was date-adjacent. But one date doesn’t mean anything,” he grumbled.

“Keep telling yourself that, bridgeboy,” Adolin replied smugly. “I see the way you look at him.”

Kaladin growled. “Be glad I don’t punch you in the face, prin--” he stuttered over his old nickname for the man. Adolin wasn’t a prince anymore, because Kaladin had killed Elhokar and hadn’t saved Dalinar.

The last of the lingering softness from Renarin’s kiss evaporated. 

“I don’t have time for a relationship anyway,” Kaladin said. “I’m too busy keeping your ass alive.”

Adolin’s grin faded. “Like you were supposed to keep Elhokar and Father alive?”

Kaladin flinched.  _ How  _ had Adolin managed to lock in on his thoughts? “Don’t you storming dare go there.”

Adolin closed his mouth sharply. “See you later, bridgeboy.” He stomped away down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch us on tumblr @flannel-and-shitposts and @pachimew!
> 
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe


	8. interlude: rafo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one will raise more questions than it answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a short interlude because i have to sleep but i wanted to post one more thing while i still had some amount of Productive - bryn

Wit opened the mansion door himself, not ringing the doorbell and waiting for the butler to arrive. He knew what he was here for--or rather  _ who  _ he was here for--and wasn’t going to waste time with common courtesy.

He took a left past the main entry, then a right, then a right again, finding himself in front of a nondescript, wooden door.

He opened it to find a man with a spike through his left eye reclining in a large chair, his intact eye closed, his chest rising and falling softly.

Wit grinned. “Wakey wakey, it’s time to go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch us on tumblr @flannel-and-shitposts and @pachimew!
> 
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe


	9. naled it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath of some decisions and the predictions of some more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit this one is like a fifth of what we've written, buckle up

Renarin opened his eyes blearily. He had half a second of confusion and disorientation, seeing himself on the wall of Thaylen City seeing himself see himself stuck down by Jasnah, before the vision faded as yesterday’s events filtered in.

He groaned. The last clear memory he had was of taking the bottle of wine he had been sharing with Kaladin and slamming half of it without breaking eye contact. After that, things got...fuzzy. He had the vague outlines of a couple dozen things, some of which had to be half-remembered dreams. He most certainly didn’t kill Adolin, kiss Kaladin, or jump off the side of Urithiru wearing a havah and shrieking about the men of red and gold..

He swung his legs over the edge of his bed, his muscles groaning in protest, a headache pounding at the front of his brain. Time to deal with the aftermath of last night. Whatever that was.

 

* * *

 

Kaladin hadn’t fallen asleep.

He’d lay in bed awake for a couple hours, the lingering feeling of Renarin’s lips on his slowly fading. Kaladin had gotten up to take a walk and just hadn’t stopped walking.

Stormlight kept his body fresh, his mind awake. Stormlight cleared the alcohol from his veins.

His Stormlight didn’t come from Syl.

It came from Nim, his...spren, he guessed. He’d killed Syl. She wasn’t flying around, carefree and curious, free as the wind. She never would again.

One more death on his conscience.

One more reason not to get up in the morning.

One more reason to never sleep in the first place.

This thing with Renarin was only another curse, destined to end horribly for all involved. Sure, Renarin had kissed him. But Renarin was very drunk at the time, Renarin probably only went on a date with him because Adolin asked in the first place.

Sure, Kaladin wouldn’t have  _ minded _ the chance to go on another, despite the promise of pain, but Renarin was a nice guy who never would say no to his brother. There was no universe where they went on a second one without Adolin’s insufferable meddling.

Kaladin stopped at a balcony, staring out at the open sky. Clouds tumbled below him--still such a strange thing to get used to--and the sky was wide and clear before him.

He could go. At any time. It was the Weeping, Stormlight was low, but Kaladin could get himself some spheres and just...leave. 

He contemplated the thought for a few minutes.

Then, with a sigh, he turned away and continued down the hallway.

 

* * *

 

Adolin tried to get up.

He couldn’t. He strained against the bed, pulling himself free after entirely too much effort. The sheets still stuck to the side of his face until he gave them a strong tug. That storming windspren had been following him for weeks now, since the night his father died. It hadn’t been much of a bother at first, but it seemed to be building itself up to be more and more of a nuisance. 

A small blue woman wearing a havah floated in front of him. “Hello!”

“GAH!” Adolin yelled, scrambling backwards on the bed. “Storming spren!”

She pouted. “I have a name, you know.”

Adolin sighed. “No, you just scared me. What’s your name, then?”

“My name is--” She broke off. A troubled expression drifted onto her face. “...Huh. I don’t remember.”

 

* * *

 

Kaladin wasn’t sure how long he’d been walking when he finally turned the corner and ran straight into Renarin.

He did his level best to about-face and walk away without saying anything and immediately tripped over his own feet.

Renarin stood there awkwardly, blushing.

Kaladin got up, red-faced, muttered an apology, and walked as fast as he could without actually running in the opposite direction, leaving Renarin standing there alone.

 

* * *

 

Kaladin was walking through one of the upper levels, still mentally berating himself for that interaction with Renarin, when he saw a Makabaki man with a crescent scar on his cheek. The man was staring at him intently, stepping towards him with a stride almost like a military march.

Kaladin grimaced. “What do you want?”

The man stopped. “Kaladin Stormblessed. Skybreaker.”

Kaladin flinched.

“I am Nale, Herald of Justice. You’re coming with me.”

Kaladin stepped back, halfway through the motion of summoning his Blade--no. Summoning Nim. The thought made him freeze in his tracks.

“I will teach you to use the second of our Surges, Division, and explain the Ideals of our order,” Nale continued.

Kaladin looked at him suspiciously. “How am I supposed to trust you?”

Nale stretched a hand to the side, summoning a Shardblade. “I’ve trained many like you. The Skybreakers, alone of the original Orders, have kept to our oaths. We did not kill our spren during the Recreance.”

Kaladin flinched again. “But I did,” he whispered. “I did kill her.”

“And you bonded another.” Nale pointed his Blade at the slice in reality that hovered next to Kaladin. “If a highspren would still bond you, that proves you are worthy of joining my order.”

Kaladin hesitated, thinking of the people he had sworn to protect.

...But he was no longer a Windrunner, and protection was not his oath. And the promise of being taught to wield this power so that it would never happen again…

He sighed. “Fine,” Kaladin said. “I guess I’m going with you.”

 

* * *

 

Renarin, eating dinner alone in his room, felt the Spiritual Realm kick down the door of his brain and start shrieking at the top of its lungs. 

_ A large, silver, whispering sword, bleeding black smoke. _

_ Kaladin, flying away from Urithiru at the side of a Makabaki man. _

_ A lighteyed man becoming a darkeyed man becoming a no-eyed man in the span of heartbeats. _

_ Two men walking through a sea of mists. _

_ Jasnah, arriving at the tower city. _

_ Adolin, speaking to a small, blue girl floating in the air beside him. _

_ A darkeyed woman, wearing a long white coat and wide-brimmed hat, disappearing into a wall. _

_ Him, cut down from behind by Jasnah as she saw him See. _

And the visions retreated, leaving him wiping curry from his face and inexplicably terrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch us on tumblr @flannel-and-shitposts and @pachimew!
> 
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe


	10. consequences and ripples

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a plot line is Resolved  
> ish  
> sorta  
> maybe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enter Queen Fen, who there doesn't appear to be a standard tag for
> 
> 2x Chapter Upload Combo!

Fen blinked. Her room was gone. Instead, she stood in a darkened barn, the night air still and crisp against her skin.

Something moved in the darkness--a child, moving to press against Fen’s side, clutching her leg.

“Father,” said the child, voice shaking, “what is happening?”

Fen blinked again, brow furrowing. “I’m not--” She’d read this before, in an account of the visions of the insane Alethi highprince Dalinar Kholin.

The far wall of the building burst inwards, spraying splinters across the room.

As the child screamed, Fen picked her up, breaking into a sprint. She remembered this one -- the Midnight Essence, the Radiants, the village.

She ran past the farmhouse, not bothering to look back once as she heard a shrill, quickly cut-off scream pierce the night just before she entered the village proper.

A handful of villagers had been drawn out of their houses by the scream.

“Heb,” one asked as Fen set down the child. “What’s--”

Fen cut him off. “Bonfire. Now. There are monsters coming, monsters made of shadow. You, wake the village. You, you, and you, start building a barricade. I’ll start the fire with the rest of us.”

The villagers hesitated.

_ “NOW!”  _ she roared.

They sprang into action.

Five tense minutes of waiting and organizing and building later, two glowing figures descended upon the Midnight Essence, which had begun clawing at the barricade, tearing the monsters apart in a matter of seconds.

The male knight raised his voice. “Who organized this defense?”

Half a dozen hands pointed at Fen at once.

She remained silent.

“No words for me, I see,” said the knight. “Very well. But should you wish to put this skill of yours to use, come to Urithiru.” He strode away, shouting warnings about an approaching Desolation.

The child she had saved approached her, speaking in the deep and powerful voice the Blackthorn had described in each vision, had named as the voice of the Almighty.

“I miss these times,” the child said. “They were one, once. The orders. Men. Not without problems or strife, of course. But focused. I wish I could help you. You have to unite them.”

“That’s what Dalinar said before he died. A mandate from God, a command to unite.”

The child continued, heedless of Fen’s comment. “To speak of what might be is forbidden. To speak of what was depends on perspective. But I will try to help. Yes. This is important. Do not let strife consume you. Be strong. Act with honor, and honor--”

“Will aid you,” Fen whispered.

“I will give you what I can,” the child said, voice growing indistinct. “I am sorry for not giving more.”

Fen found herself back in her room, slumped against the wall.  _ Unite them. _

She took a deep breath and let it out shakily. “Storms,” she muttered. “I need to talk to the Blackthorn.”

 

* * *

 

Fen strode into the spanreed room.

“Queen,” said an ardent uncertainly. “How can I help you?”

She ignored the ardent, grabbing a spanreed connected to one held by Dalinar Kholin’s scribes. She twisted the ruby, indicating that she would be transmitting. An agonizing thirty seconds passed before the ruby started blinking, indicating that they were ready to receive.

_ Dalinar Kholin, _ she wrote,  _ we need to talk. _

 

* * *

 

Far away, in the tower city of Urithiru, Adolin Kholin replied, “My father is dead, and so is my cousin. I am King Adolin Kholin of Alethkar. May I help you in his stead?”

 

* * *

 

“Storms,” Fen breathed. “That complicates things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch us on tumblr @flannel-and-shitposts and @pachimew!
> 
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe


	11. interlude: rafo ii

The two men walked through the sea of mists, one tall and broad-shouldered with a spike through his eye, one thin and angular with a silver sword at his side.  
They walked in silence for a time, before the tall one addressed the thin one.   
“I still have no idea why I trust you.”  
“It’s because you have no other real option.”  
“That’s true. But why did I come with you?”  
“Because I’m the only thing familiar here.”  
The tall man grunted, and they continued on in silence.


	12. up, up, and away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kal meets a man in the sky  
> adolin finally talks to ren

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a while

“Where’s Kaladin?” Renarin asked. “I saw him earlier today, but he’s not here.”

He, Telinar, and Shallan were in the meeting room, trying to organize...something. Renarin was having trouble keeping track of what--the Lightweavers seemed to be running the conversation. 

Telinar frowned. “I don’t know. He probably lost track of time down in the deeper levels.”

“When I saw him last he was up closer to the Oathgate level and heading upstairs.”

The man’s frown deepened. “Flying, then? Kaladin likes the sky.” He blinked, expression turning confused. “...He seems like the type who would, that is.”

Renarin hesitated. “Probably.”

“He’ll be fine,” said Shallan breezily. “He’s a Shardblade-wielding pseudo-immortal like the rest of us. Let’s get back to the things at hand, shall we?”

Telinar nodded in agreement. After a moment, Renarin nodded too.

He wasn’t done. He’d just...worry more after the meeting. He’d ask Bridge Four--what scattered remnants of them remained, at least--they would probably know.

 

* * *

 

As Urithiru faded to a speck on the horizon behind Kaladin and Nale, a speck in front of them rapidly came into view. It looked like a chicken, if chickens flew, had Shardblades, and wore all white.

Szeth shouted something lost to the wind as he hurtled at Kaladin and Nale.

It was over in a matter of seconds.

As Szeth came at Nale with the Honorblade, Kaladin stabbed him in the spine. Szeth’s glow faded immediately as his eyes burned in their sockets and he plummeted earthward.

The Assassin in White was no more. Oddly, Nale looked disappointed.

“That one would have been a great asset,” he said. “He was a masterpiece, destroying himself for the sake of his oaths. I’ve rarely seen such a fine example.”

Kaladin eyed Nale uneasily, then looked away with a grunt. “The world is better off without him,” he said firmly.

Nale sighed and shook his head. “He was only keeping his oaths. Come, Skybreaker.” He added another forward Lashing, and Kaladin followed.

...He felt uneasy. He wasn’t sure why. For a moment, he seriously considered turning around and Lashing himself back to Urithiru.

But it was really too late for that, wasn’t it?

 

* * *

 

Bridge Four didn’t know where Kaladin was either, and now Renarin was getting  _ worried. _ If Kaladin would have told anyone, it would have been them, right? After the Everstorm, there weren’t even ten members of Bridge Four left. It couldn’t be  _ that  _ hard to find them and inform them, so why…

Had Kaladin gone for what was meant to be a quick fly, and run out of Light? Had he gone somewhere, gotten drunk, and lost track of the time? Had he...had he known that Renarin would ask, and told the bridgemen not to tell him? Renarin had messed up badly last night, somehow--oh, storms, if he could just  _ remember-- _

Adolin stumbled into him.

“Have you seen Kaladin?” Renarin blurted out.

Adolin looked up, breaking into a wide grin. “You two hooked up, then?”

_ “No!”  _ Renarin said, feeling his cheeks heat up. “I just haven’t seen him and I’m worried! He wasn’t at the meeting or anything!”

Adolin’s insufferable smile shrank slightly. “Really?”

“Yes,” Renarin replied, crossing his arms and glancing down at his feet. “I just checked with Bridge Four. They don’t know either.”

“Huh,” Adolin said. Renarin looked up sharply. That was a very particular tone that Adolin used when he was baffled by something, but in such a way that the thing confusing him was  _ inches  _ away from being something he  _ did  _ know. Renarin had heard it often when Adolin was first learning to duel.

As he looked at his brother, he noted the bags under his eyes. Those had been there practically since he’d gotten to Urithiru, but they seemed to be getting worse.

“Have you been doing alright lately?” asked Renarin, tilting his head slightly.

Adolin sighed. “ Renarin, our father is dead, I am the king, I've got a bunch of ‘kingly duties’ I need to handle, Queen Fen wants to talk, and now I have the world’s most annoying spren following me everywhere. What do you think? ”

Renarin was halfway through raising his hand to attempt a comforting shoulder pat when he finished registering Adolin’s sentence and froze. “Wait, what was that last part?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch us on tumblr @be-gay-do-tax-fraud and @pachimew!
> 
> expect the next chapter somewhere between in the next hour and 5 minutes before the heat-death of our universe


	13. spren and sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adolin and Renarin have a Talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is shorter than usual.
> 
> IMPORTANT: This fic is going to go on hiatus for a While, probably a month or so.

“So,” Renarin said. “A windspren with a name she doesn’t remember has been following you around since the night Father died, and you didn’t  _ tell me? _ ”

“I’m not a windspren,” the spren said, crossing her arms with a pout. She sat in thin air, kicking her legs like a child.

“She says she’s not a windspren,” Adolin repeated. “She must be something like it, though, I didn’t realize she  _ wasn’t one  _ until a day or two ago.” When Renarin’s expression didn’t change, he added, “That’s why I didn’t tell you, I didn’t  _ know.”  _

Renarin sighed heavily. “All right, then. What do we do from here?”

Adolin shrugged. “I was hoping you would know.”

Renarin made an automatic motion to push up his spectacles, then let his hand drop when he came up against his own face. It gave Adolin a small measure of comfort to know that his brother, despite being Radiant and glowy and all, still had his familiar habits.

“Well…” Renarin said slowly, “it...looks like you might be starting to bond a spren. Maybe--” He broke off abruptly, posture stiffening as blood drained from his face.

“Renarin?” Adolin said, reaching for his brother.  _ “Renarin!” _

Renarin didn’t respond. One of his eyes was twitching rapidly. It almost reminded Adolin of one of his fits, but no, Renarin had said he didn’t  _ get  _ those anymore...not epileptic ones, anyways--oh,  _ storms,  _ fits where he saw  _ visions  _ were still on the table, weren’t they?

“Rin? Renarin? Can you hear me?” Adolin put one hand on his brother’s shoulder--

The world was pulled out from under him. A lurch in his stomach, a twisting of the edges of reality, the slight impression of stained glass overlaying everything, and Adolin Saw.

_ Kaladin, killing an escaped convict in a shallow, clear, beautiful lake marred only by the corpse. _

_ Kaladin, plunging a Shardblade through the neck of a man dressed in finery. _

_ Kaladin, flying alongside a Makabaki man with a crescent scar on his cheek. _

_ A long, black, straight-bladed sword half-drawn from a silver sheath, bleeding black smoke. _

_ Jasnah, summoning a Shardblade and activating an Oathgate. _

_ And a very familiar man with a spike through his eye. _

Reality snapped back into place with a suddenness that made Adolin want to throw up. Renarin started to fall forwards, and Adolin barely got his sense of balance back in time to catch him. 

“Oh, that’s very not good,” Renarin mumbled. 

“What in Damnation was  _ that?”  _ Adolin said, his voice cracking.

“My visions,” Renarin said, his brow furrowing. “Did you--did you See them too?” Adolin nodded numbly, a shiver running down his spine. Renarin stared at him for a long moment before muttering, “I didn’t know that could happen.”

“Wait,” Adolin said. “We Saw Jasnah.”

Renarin blinked. “Wait. She--she’s alive?”

“She had a Shardblade and activated an Oathgate _ ,”  _ Adolin said. “She must be a Radiant.”

“She’s alive,” Renarin repeated, a light in his eyes. He dug his box out of his pocket and started to fidget with it, rapidly clicking its lid open and shut. “I should have known she’d survived, she’d never let herself die--”

“And she has a better claim to the throne than I,” said Adolin excitedly. “I can abdicate!” 

Renarin nodded excitedly, although Adolin wasn’t sure if he was fully listening. He didn’t mind if he wasn’t, really. Adolin was half-lost in his  _ own  _ thoughts about what a relief it would be if Jasnah could take over, what a  _ weight  _ off his shoulders it would be…

There was a clatter that snapped Adolin out of his thoughts. Renarin had dropped his box. Adolin started to pick it up for him when Renarin reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

“Adolin,” he said. “That was Dad. Dad’s alive, and he has a spike through an eye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch us on tumblr @be-gay-do-tax-fraud and @pachimew


End file.
